1. www.hsl. gov.uk An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive www.hsl. gov.uk An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive AI as a Knowledge Management Approach John Kingston

2. An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive Knowledge management is… Getting the right knowledge to the right people in the right format in the right place at the right time

3. An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive Knowledge based systems Are an application of (cognitive) AI Contain expert knowledge Make it available to non-expert users where they work Make it available by asking them questions –And then making their own decisions –And possibly justifying them Conclusion: KBS are a knowledge management approach

4. An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive RAF Expert Provisioner Domain: Logistics (ordering spare parts) Knowledge: Understanding the implications of various numbers on the order form –E.g. A ‘1’ in ‘Disposed of’ meant ‘Obsolete item – remaining stocks have been sent to the organisation that dispose sof obsolete items for the best price So before re-ordering any, phone the disposals organisation! Estimated saving: £30 million p.a.

5. An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive EASE Estimation and Assessment of Substance Exposure Helps HSE inspectors estimate the exposure levels for substances in newly introduced industrial processes Helped standardise the UK approach to this assessment throughout Europe

6. An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive General Electric: Case Based Reasoning Some more recent examples, from GE: Call centre automation: saves estimated $60m p.a.; Remote diagnostics for locomotives; Aircraft engine monitoring; Colour matching for plastics; Property valuation. See http://best.berkeley.edu/~goebel/publications_files/FLAIRS_01_r. pdf

7. An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive What type of knowledge is appropriate for management using AI? It’s actually easier to answer the question, “What type of tasks are appropriate?” Classification Diagnosis Assessment Monitoring Configuration Design Planning Scheduling Another key heuristic: Could the expert solve the problem over the telephone, if necessary? Symbolic vs numerical/geometric/perceptual knowledge

8. An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive Other approaches to knowledge management ‘Connect’ approaches: –Communities of practice –Apprenticeship/mentoring –Seminars –“Speed dating” events: knowledge cafes, knowledge marketplaces, peer assists –Ask the expert –Knowledge portals ‘Collect’ approaches: –Wikis –Lessons learnt databases –Records of knowledge capture interviews

9. An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive What other factors make an AI approach to KM appropriate? Number of people who need the knowledge: >50 –AI systems are relatively expensive to produce, but greatly reduce the demands on experts’ time There is a high turnover of staff A standardised approach to the task is desirable –And/or the knowledge must be carefully verified and validated before being disseminated –If innovation (‘new’ solutions) are likely, consider case based reasoning The task is too difficult/has to be performed too quickly for even a human expert to perform optimally The task takes the expert between 3 minutes and an hour to perform

10. An Agency of the Health and Safety Executive Summary Knowledge based systems use a ‘cognitive’ AI approach to distribute knowledge to those who need it Capable of saving significant sums of money Higher investment required than for other KM techniques –Careful selection of an appropriate task is advisable